1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for forming a lime slurry. In particular, through the timely addition of sulfate compounds to a slaking medium, the slaking requirement for the lime slurry is substantially reduced, thereby reducing handling costs without adversely affecting the quality or characteristics of the lime slurry.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Slurries of hydrated lime derived from calcium oxide are frequently used for soil stabilization, acid neutralization, waste treatment, water treatment and various other industrial processes. In the past, dry hydrated lime powder has been the predominent, on-site material employed for these purposes. Dry hydrated lime powder is produced by adding water to quicklime in sufficient quantities to satisfy only the chemical requirement to yield calcium hydroxide. The resultant product is a finely divided, dry powder which is transported to the ultimate use site where it is mixed with water to form a lime slurry for actual application. The dry hydrate powder form is better-suited than quicklime for on-site handling due to safety considerations.
As an alternative to dry hydrated lime powder, lime slurry is gaining acceptance as a delivered, on-site product. Lime slurry is produced by hydrating quicklime without the intermediate dry hydrated lime product. Thus, direct production of a lime slurry from quicklime eliminates the expensive dry hydrating phase. When quicklime is converted directly to a lime slurry by prior art lime slurry processes, however, the solids concentration of the slurry is only about thirty percent dry weight. Since lime slurry is sold, delivered and used on a volume of solids basis, transportation and handling costs are substantially increased over equivalent costs for the dry product.